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ARABLE

Tips on achieving healthy hedgerows on farm

Hedges are a defining feature of our countryside and one of the best habitats for wildlife on any farm.  Far more than being a boundary, they also support farm business…

LIVESTOCK

How feeding methane inhibitors can help cut emissions

Methane inhibitors supplied in feed rations could play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in ruminants. However, no one size fits all, advises Annie Williams, ruminant nutritionist and…

BUSINESS

Alternative land uses: Woodland creation - key points

Financial support for woodland creation and management in England is at record levels, so it could be the right time to consider this as an option. Talk of reducing sheep…

CARBON

Carbon markets: A beginner's guide

The UK’s carbon markets are growing, but there is confusion around the principles. Farmers Weekly asks CLA adviser Matthew Doran how they work. See also: Mineral rights - what farmers…

BUSINESS

Rural housing: Options to decarbonise and improve efficiency

From period farmhouses to farmworkers’ cottages, rural housing comes in many shapes and sizes, but they all share similar challenges when it comes to energy. Rural properties off the mains…

ARABLE

How 'mega-cluster' project benefits farming and nature

A project linking farmers and private investors across a 12,500ha area of Sussex is aiming to support nature recovery and food production on a landscape scale.  The Weald to Waves…

Case studies

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LIVESTOCK

How a Portuguese green oasis inspired a move to agroforestry

Mike Adams had never seen the point in growing trees in fields. But visits to farms in southern Europe and Turkey proved transformational; he is now sold on their benefits…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Benefits of sward lifting for profit and environment

A decade of sward lifting on a Cornish farm has prevented run-off after heavy rainfall, shortened the winter housing period and is helping soils to sequester carbon. A typical field…

CARBON

Pioneering arable farm sells carbon credits to top F1 team

A pioneering arable farm in Leicestershire has become the first farm in the UK to sell measured carbon credits to a range of buyers on the open market, including the…

CROP MANAGEMENT

How farmer uses biodynamic approach to establish crops

For the past two decades, Wiltshire mixed farmer Richard Gantlett has been using the power of biodynamic farming to grow crops completely free of chemicals and without the plough. With…

BIODIVERSITY

Wild grey partridge project promotes biodiversity and profit

A decade-long wild grey partridge project establishing cover crop field margins at a Scottish farming estate has proved an effective way to promote biodiversity and reap an economic return. Balgonie…

COVER CROPS

Cover crop trial reveals impact of grazing on nitrates

Since winning the title of Farmers Weekly Environmental Farmers of the Year, Emma and James Loder-Symonds have been busy trialling the impact of grazing cover crops. The cover crop trial…

Insights

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REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Why trees in hedges improve arable farm landscapes

Trees in hedges help with habitat provision and carbon storage, bringing diversity and resilience to the farmed landscape, while providing continuity when hedges are being managed. For farmers and growers…

ENVIRONMENT

Analysis: What future for sheep farming in the uplands?

Sheep farmers can be forgiven for feeling they are being demonised. Week in, week out, there seems to be some new report or TV programme suggesting that sheep are a…

LIVESTOCK

What makes a sustainable dairy farm – survey results

An exclusive Farmers Weekly survey has revealed that uncertainty about future investment in infrastructure, or to meet potential new legislation, presents the biggest challenge for the UK’s dairy farmers. However,…

DAIRY

In-parlour sniffer sensors could provide low-cost methane test

Sensors that sample cows’ breath while they are feeding in the milking parlour could provide a simpler and more accurate solution to monitoring methane emissions. The sniffer sensor technology has…

WILDLIFE

Farmers’ conservation efforts key to reversing bird decline

The Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC), an important annual event for monitoring farmland bird populations, returns this week, providing valuable insights into how farmers’ conservation efforts are benefiting wildlife across…

ARABLE

How to get arable land ditches working for wildlife

There are 500,000km of ditches in the British countryside, reaching almost every corner of the land. Found in most parts of the lowlands and surprisingly far up in the hills,…

ENVIRONMENT

Can Welsh farming afford another national park?

Plans to designate a new national park in north-east Wales have sparked grave concerns among farmers, who say their way of life is set to change for the worse if…

BIODIVERSITY

How beneficial insects can help nature and food production

It will come as little surprise to many to learn that a long-running study into insect populations in cereal crops – the Sussex Study – has shown a decline, linked…

Latest environment news

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ENVIRONMENT

Welsh farmer frustration over water pollution review

A review into water pollution regulations in Wales has suggested there could be an end to “farming-by-calendar rules”, but questions remain over funding for infrastructure. The statutory four-year review, led…

ENVIRONMENT

Dismay at RSPB decision to remove sheep from upland farms

Residents and farming supporters in the Swindale valley on the eastern edge of the Lake District have voiced their dismay at the decision to remove sheep from two RSPB tenanted…

ENVIRONMENT

New national forest aims to transform west of England landscape

Farm leaders have given a cautious welcome to plans announced by Defra on Friday (21 March) to create the first national forest in 30 years, but insist farmers be rewarded…

NEWS

Ministers invited to choose which wildlife plots must go

A Bedfordshire arable farmer has written to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, Defra ministers and chancellor Rachel Reeves to ask if they might help decide which wildlife plots to rip…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Emergency SFI meeting scheduled with Defra farming minister

An emergency roundtable meeting with farming organisations has been scheduled for Monday 17 March to discuss Defra’s decision to pull the plug on new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) applications. Farming…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Devolved nations respond to England's SFI debacle

Farmers in the devolved regions are urging their governments to learn the lessons of the current Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) debacle in England, to produce schemes that are workable, well-funded,…

FARM POLICY

Environmental groups react to suspension of SFI scheme

Farmers and environmental organisations are reeling after the Labour government’s decision to stop accepting new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme. The move, announced on Tuesday March 11,…

ENVIRONMENT

£1m from government to clean up River Wye

An additional £1m to tackle water quality issues in the River Wye have been made available by the Welsh and UK governments with a series of research initiatives. The joint…

AIR AND WATER

Moorland group warns of landscape-scale wildfire risk

Recent wildfires in the Peak District have sparked concerns about the growing fire risks in moorland areas, particularly amid policies aimed at removing livestock from these landscapes. In the first…

ENVIRONMENT

Chicken manure waste ruling deals blow to poultry industry

In a major blow to the NFU, the High Court has ruled that chicken manure must be classified as “waste”, a decision that has been hailed as a victory by…

WEATHER

Scots farmers warned of water scarcity this summer

Scottish farmers are being advised to prepare for possible water scarcity this summer, after lower than usual rainfall in Scotland this winter. Despite December and January experiencing brief periods of…

NEWS

Lords probe farming groups on fertiliser use and environment

Nitrogen fertiliser usage in UK agriculture faced scrutiny during a House of Lords select committee session on 5 March, around its impact on water and air quality. Farming representatives from…

Video

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AIR AND WATER

Video: FW Investigates - would dredging reduce flooding?

The past few months of relentless wet weather have again highlighted the pressing issue of how best to manage rivers and watercourses near farmland. Heavy rainfall events are becoming more…

NEWS

Video: Farmer defends his actions on River Lugg

A Herefordshire farmer who was jailed for causing damage to a protected river has defended his actions, insisting they helped prevent flooding to local properties and land. Several homes along…

SHEEP

Video: How a lowland farm is preparing for low-methane sheep

Results from the first UK farm to test methane emissions in sheep using portable accumulation chambers have shown they were producing on average about 20g/day of methane and 1.2kg/day of…